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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Ben Beaumont-Thomas, Safi Bugel, Alexis Petridis and Laura Snapes

The best albums of 2023 so far

From left: Yaeji, Jessie Ware, Lil Yachty, Everything But the Girl, Lankum.
From left: Yaeji, Jessie Ware, Lil Yachty, Everything But the Girl, Lankum. Composite: Getty Images / Jack Grange / Sorcha Frances Ryder undefined / Dasom Han / Edward Bishop / WireImage

Bar Italia – Tracey Denim

Perhaps the pandemic forced us to appreciate the art of lolling about, but for whatever reason, the sound of slacker indie is as popular as ever, and this London trio are peak practitioners. They sound as if they’d borrow your cigarettes outside a pub with the most cursory of thank yous – there’s shades of Justine Frischmann’s delivery at times – but they are far from aloof, covering a broad emotional and stylistic range: nervy post-punk, perky lo-fi pop and also a kind of sexy shoegaze on songs such as Changer, Horsey Girl Rider and the superb Missus Morality. Ben Beaumont-Thomas

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